The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Anyone here (other than Kat) crazy enough to jump into THIS mess on Black Friday?:


This was for a pallet full of Xbox 360s at a Walmart on Black Friday. And that's not even the worst of the crowds. That's just a sprinkling of nutmeg on your Insane Shopping Crowd Hot Chocolate. Check this out... 34-year-old Walmart employee Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death Friday morning at 5am at the store in Long Island, NY, as he and other employees unlocked the front doors for shoppers. TRAMPLED TO DEATH. That means people actually had to walk on this guy and kick him without stopping to help him up, just to get to the "Doorbuster Deals." Police were trying to give first aid to the Damour and got bumped by even MORE shoppers rushing in. And what's worse, I bet the people who trampled Damour saw the story later and thought "Oh, THAT'S what I stepped in." And don't even get me started on the two guys in California who got into a shootout at a Toys R Us store. No, they weren't fighting over any toys or anything, BUT WHO TAKES A GUN TO GO SHOPPING AT TOYS R FRIGGIN' US???

Okay, so people are assholes when they think they can get a good Black Friday deal. It's really nothing unusual, though I would have pictures things differently since the economy is down the shitter this year. Consider this...despite all the layoffs and federal bailouts you keep hearing about in the news, the National Retail Federation (a group paid to track this kind of thing...now THERE'S job security) estimates Black Friday shoppers this year spent about $10.6 BILLION more this year nationwide than last year. For those of you who don't have those numbers handy, that's an estimated $470.4 BILLION SPENT IN ONE DAY!

For the past several years, the term "Black Friday" has been used to describe the Friday after Thanksgiving because that's when stores offer some of their deepest discounts... and rely heavily on the day's sales to move them from the "red" (losses) to the "black" (profits). But we might as well call it "Bleak Friday" this year, with regard to the shoppers. Many families laid off in the last few months could be seeing this Christmas as one "last hurrah" to give the family everything they want... and worry about the credit card bills in the spring.

Andy sent me a link to an article in today's New York Times (I assume he was not reading the Peruvian version). In it, a business columnist published an e-mail he received from an anonymous banking executive. Here's the link if you want to read the full article (because it's fascinating), but here are just a few points...

I received a catalog today from Casual Living and in big bold print on the front page, it said “BUY NOW, PAY NOTHING”. Then in significantly smaller print underneath, it said, (until April). That mantra has been sung throughout the credit markets over the last 10 years. The banks wave a carrot in front of the consumer and reel them in and encourage them to go deeper and deeper into debt. They do this by prescreening customers through credit reporting agencies, mailing offers to apply, and to transfer balances at teaser rates or zero percent financing. They base it on credit score and not on capacity to repay. A good credit score does not equate to the ability to repay debt.

Over my career, I have seen thousands of consumers that have credit card lines in excess of their annual salaries. Some are sinking under their burden. Some have been fiscally responsible and have minimal amounts outstanding. My 21-year-old daughter, who’s in college, gets pre-approved offers all the time. She has no ability to repay debt, yet the offers flow in just the same. We all know how these lines are accumulated. The banks, in their infinite stupidity, keep upping credit lines because the customer pays the minimum payments on time. My daughter’s credit line started at $1,000 and has been increased over the last two years to $4,400. She has no increased earnings to support this. But the banks do it without asking. And without being asked. The banks reel in the consumer, charge interest rates higher than those charged by the mob, increase lines without the consumer asking and without their consent, and lure them into overextending. And we can count on the banks to act surprised when they aren’t paid back. Shame on them.

The bank exec goes on to propose a plan that would help cut back on these problems. But for those people already out of a job or looking at declaring bankruptcy, there's not a whole lot for them to do. The pallet of Xbox 360s is empty. And now THEY'RE the ones getting trampled...only this time, it's by the banks looking to take the money of some other poor schmuck.
-B-